SIMPLY, “L’ÉTAT”

In celebration of Go Skateboarding Day on June 21st, we partnered with local Toronto-based skate company L'État Skateboards, and four contemporary artists to create a limited-edition Boards & Beer series. Each deck design is paired with a matching can of Collective Lager, making this a truly one-of-a-kind collection. 

We sat down with L'État co-founders Pascal Paquette and Cindy Blažević to chat all things creativity, skateboarding and the foundational things that skateboarding teaches us.

What’s the story behind L'État? How did the brand come together and why a skateboard company?

Pascal: I’ll answer that. Six years ago or seven years ago–

Cindy: It’s exactly the age of the twins.

P: Yeah, as you know we have two seven year old twins… So it was 2018, I guess?

C: Pascal! They were born in 2017!

P: 2017! I’m sorry… It all blends together! So, it was 2017 and I was skating for a label called Baitshop and they stopped making boards. And, I would get boards from them. And then I was [thinking], “What am I going to do now?” But I think [Cindy] mentioned, “Maybe you should look into making boards… like a run or whatever!” And I was like, “That’s crazy… like I’m never going to do this.”

There’s something to understand with Canadian skateboarding, we’re competing with the major American brands all the time, so it’s really hard to cut through and get a good, decent financial spot there. Anyways - I knew that was crazy. But… I did go, and I did a run of, I think, 9 boards? Three different graphics, three different sizes and then I used all of [Cindy’s] images… So, they’re all Cindy’s boards. And when they came, you know, I realized I could modify these boards to make them into something I would like. I also realized there was really good feedback with our graphics. We were doing something completely different.

C: Pascal has a background in fine art and graphic design. So it was a very natural confluence of things to take his own sense of aesthetics and apply them to skateboards.

Collective Arts: And what is your background, Cindy? Fine arts as well?

C: Sort of, haha. By way of International Relations and journalism and a few different things. But now I’m working as a visual artist.

CA: Oh! That’s awesome.

C: And the name came from… I don’t remember the exact origin story, but, L’État C’est Nous is a riff off of [what] Louis XIV very famously said, “L'état c’est moi!” which means “The state is me”, I make the rules, I do everything. And us being a couple of socialists, we’re like… no! The state is everybody, “l’etat c’est nous” - it’s all of us, together. And that’s where it came from and the skateboard label was shortened to “L’etat” because it's a mouthful to say the whole thing.

CA: For sure… but that’s wicked.

P: We still have our business name “L’état c’est nous”. We kept that for the background but the skate label remains simply, “L’état”

What is your brand all about and what is your ethos? What are the pillars of the brand? What is the future of the company and what do you hope to achieve?

Cindy: I mean, let’s start with the obvious joke: “In this economy?!” haha, just staying alive.

Pascal: Yeah, so, I guess at first it was basically serving my needs and then I sort of gathered a community. We started sponsoring younger skateboarders that we noticed could use the support. It’s an opportunity to help out. And that also put our brand out there, in skateparks and among groups of friends. We started building a reputation for being a good brand. We also started designing other things that we liked, such as t-shirts, of which we’ve made a handful. We’re currently working on releasing a zip-up hoodie windbreaker with a higher neck and high visibility. 

C: We love everything high-vis, 80’s colours, almost like an American Apparel aesthetic. 

P: Yeah, very simple. A lot of the boards are also type designs of Cindy’s handwriting that I’ll use for the Pro boards, like the Foley board. A lot of boards are letter based.

C: But also, speaking of the future, aren’t you always trying to perfect the shape of the board? And you’re always working with people and getting feedback and tweaking the shape and tweaking the wood, and pretty much tweaking everything. I mean, that part is not me but I know [Pascal] is always talking about making the shape better.

P: Our most established shape, for the past 6 years, is the Quebec shape, which is a new school popsicle shape. This year we’re launching a twin shape board. As part of the L’État x Collective Arts collaboration, Aaron Jones’ board is on the twin shape! And after that, we’re launching a re-tweak of our “Street Racer” shape. This board references vintage shapes but with all the specificity of a technologically advanced board. 

Collective Arts believes that creativity and skateboarding go hand in hand, what does that mean to you and how do you integrate it into your work? And how would you describe creativity in skateboarding?

Cindy: For me, everything is always political, and I see the skateboard [art] as a small, subtle way of acting as a vehicle for getting important political ideas into the mainstream.

Pascal: Growing as a skateboarder, we were always trying to find things to skateboard on or building our own [obstacles]. Us skateboarders, we’re just a bunch of DIY’ers. 

For us [as a company], the aesthetic of everything we put out is very important. We’re privy to the pre-releases from all the major brands, so it’s interesting to see what they put out before we make decisions. Typically, what we want to put out, it’s usually not out there. 

C: Basically, Pascal does whatever makes him laugh or interests him, and that’s really where the decisions come from. 

P: Well…

C: Kind of!

P: Well, it’s not “serious”.

C: No! I think it makes you laugh! Whatever makes you chuckle or whatever turns your head, that’s really what it is. I mean, all the cumulative years of being an artist and a human being in this world are really what [the art decisions] come down to.

P: Yeah, and it makes our brand unique. 

Collective Arts: And there’s creativity in being a human, that’s just innate.

What’s the last skate video that you watched?

Pascal: I’m waiting impatiently for the new Polar video. It’s called “Everything is normal” by Polar. It’s a brand from Europe.

If you could pick only one skate trick to do for the rest of your life what would it be?

Cindy: For Pascal, the kind that doesn’t bring you home with broken ribs and rolled ankles - that would make me [have to] solo parent for two weeks. Those are the tricks I would pick for him.

Pascal: I couldn’t live without board slides. 

Collective Arts: Can you explain that for me?

P: Sure! So, you mount the curb in the middle of your board, rather than the nose or the tail, and then you sort of slide.

C: That’s the one? Really? That’s your favourite?

P: It’s my favourite trick for sure but, one trick that I could not cut out. Ollies are just so important. Like, a car is coming and I need to jump on the curb.

C: Which one brings you the most joy though?

P: Board slides.

C: Is it because they’re joyful? Or is it because you’re really good at them?

P: It’s my favourite trick, I don’t know why. I cannot explain it. I do a lot of stuff, but when I’m about to do a board slide and I’m committing to it… I’m pushing, pushing, pushing, I’m like, “Alright, this is going to be great. I know it.”

What do you think is the most iconic skate spot in Toronto? And why?

Pascal: Definitely CBC, I would say.  I think it’s the one that’s been in the most skate videos that I’ve seen. It’s a popular spot for Toronto skateboarders and international skateboarders alike. TJ Rogers just released something for a new label he’s on, and that spot’s in it. The CBC is a destination site for international skaters.

Collective Arts: Oh, that’s really cool.

Pascal: They’ll also let people skate, that’s the other thing. Right next to it is the financial district - the CIBC building and the TD building across the street have two spots, but you can only do one or two tries then the security guard appears from multiple buildings, and they all work together to stop skateboarding. But, the CBC will let skateboarders skate. 

Cindy: Well done, CBC. 

What do you think fuels a skateboarder's own personal and unique style? 

Pascal: I think, definitely, they are influenced by the people before them. But, I think there’s a real understanding with skateboarding because we’re not sure if we’re calling it a sport or an art form. That’s because it’s really inclusive and it’s difficult to define it and I think that’s why we all love it. We’re very protective of each other and inclusive… and [our community is] very, very kind.

I remember when skateboarding was beginning in the Olympics, there were so many debates online: How can you compare Oski’s front side air to Nora Vasconcellos’ front side air? You know, because she does a cooler one but he does it higher - how are they going to rate this? And then they categorized it [into] men and women… and then [skateboarders] were like, “NO!” Don’t do that! What do we do with people who are non-identifying? You can’t do this! You can’t just flatten out the sport; it doesn’t allow for diversity.

Skateboarding has always allowed me to feel accepted. No matter what I thought, I didn’t have to fit into a mold. And that helped me find my creative voice which helped me a lot because that’s my job today, right? It was foundational.

CA: So many of our artists are skateboarders! Our Creative Director Steve has started asking the folks we meet if they skate and so many of them say yes. I think that’s so indicative of what you’re saying about skating. That it is this inclusive space, so it’s allowing you to think you’re capable of things beyond what a box would put you in, which is kind of amazing.

The final question we have for you is… what’s your favourite Collective Arts product?

 Cindy: The waters!

Pascal: Yeah, the botany!

Collective Arts: What’re your favourite flavours?

C: Cucumber, Lemongrass or the Peach with…

P: Cardamom. And also the Black Cherry and…

C: Vanilla! 

CA: You have named all the flavours!

C: Are there more?! Because there should be.